2009 Calendar Be involved with the emergence of an organization which will change Austin! The Austin Inventors and Entrepreneurs Association (AIEA) has been formed to offer education, support, and developmental guidance to inventors and entrepreneurs who have unique ideas. -- Join us! When: 1st Wednesday of every month Time: 6:00 PM - 6:30 Networking 6:30 PM - 7:30 Featured agenda 7:30 PM - Join us for a happy hour social at Cool River Location: Austin Public Library - Milwood Branch (behind Cool River) 12500 Amherst Drive Austin, Tx 78727 Should an individual or an organization consider presenting at one of our monthly programs. Please send your request to info2222@austininventors2222.org.

January Topic: Buy Speaker: N/A   January 7, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

February Topic: Becoming an Inventpreneur, Self produce your invention as an alternative solution. Speaker: Kenneth Chuah AIEA member Ken Chuah shares his experiences as an entrepreneur and inventor. In this presentation, Ken will provide an overview of how to convert a flash idea into a product with the lowest budget and shortest time period possible. Bypass waiting for a response from licensing companies?self-producing and marketing your invention could be the fastest way to see the cash flow. Kenneth Chuah is a devoted entrepreneur and inventor, a prize winner in the 2004 Idea to Product Competition (I2P) in Austin, Texas, and an active participant in many entrepreneur and inventor activities. His first company Chkout Inc (sold), which he started from his home, later secured many large retailers in US. He is currently the president of Abiie, LLC (www.abiie.com), a company manufacturing juvenile products. Ken helps others pursue their dreams by providing consultations to small and medium-sized firms wishing to expand their business overseas. Ken is based in Austin, Texas. Sponsor: Chris Ritchie February 4, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

March Topic: The funding process for startup and early stage ventures Speaker: Lance Adams, Member Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN) The presentation will discuss the funding process, funding sources, how to write an executive summary, deal structuring, and tips on pitching your idea. Sponsor: Chris Ritchie March 4, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

April Topic: Understanding Industrial Design Services. Speaker: Mindy League • What is Industrial Design(ID)?    o Design for form & function    o Optimize manufacture-ability • How to leverage ID to get your product to market    o Design renderings to solicit investors    o Liaison with Manufacturers • Concept to Consumer “Smorgasbord”    o Full Service Design firms can offer turn-key “end to end service”    o Ability to pick and choose exactly those services desired ID-ONE listens to client's needs and provides strategic vision, unyielding service and tangible design that works! We provide industrial design, graphic design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and embedded software to help your product to market. We are a creative services company offering product design and other product related design services. Based in Austin, Texas—creative capital of the Southwest. We are a focused group of industrial and graphic designers and engineers who have designed a broad variety of products for all kinds of markets from consumer and educational to commercial and industrial. We can envision and realize great products on budget and on time. Sponsor: Chris Ritchie April 1, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

May Topic: Austin Small Business Development Program Speaker: Vicky Valdez, SBDP SBDP stands for Small Business Development Program. We provide counseling and assistance to small businesses. Our focus, as our name implies, is to develop and empower small businesses in order to strengthen their business capability and survivability. Our goal is to help you succeed in today's business environment! Vicky Valdez, Senior Coordinator of Development Information Resources joined the City of Austin’s Small Business Program (SBDP) in March of 2001 after working in the City’s Planning Department for two (2) years. She currently manages SBDP’s Business Solutions Center and works with an array of customers, from all walks of life, while guiding them through the process of starting their small business or expanding their existing business. Prior to that, she was Deputy Director for a local non-profit agency where she held the titles of land developer for the agency and lead project manager for all of their construction projects. She has over 15 years of commercial and residential construction experience. Additionally, under her belt, she also has six (6) years experience in owning her own small construction company. Vicky has an undergraduate degree in Engineering from Texas A&M University - Kingsville and a MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. May 6, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Topic: Inventor Share: Squid Soap Speaker: John Lynn Come listen to John Lynn tell the SquidSoap story. John invented and developed SquidSoap and after getting the product into Wal-Mart and Target (among other retailers) he sold his company to a much larger company. John will tell you about his mistakes (they were numerous) and also his successes. John brings a unique perspective as a former chemical engineer, patent lawyer, general counsel, new business development executive, inventor, entrepreneur, and currently an investor in IP. This discussion will be broad ranging and will touch on many aspects of the difficult road from idea to commercialization to eventual monetization.   Sponsor: Chris Ritchie June 3, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Topic: Marketing Products on TV Speaker: Eliott Brackett Elliott Brackett will be speaking on inventions from the point of view of a product scout. Exceptional Products, Inc. a direct response marketing firm specializing in consumer products. EPI introduces new products on television, subsequently distributing them in retail. Topics contained in the speech include what information product scouts (or licensees) need to have to be able to make licensing decisions; ways to make your idea stand out; what sells and what does not sell on television and why. EPI has sold numerous inventions from individual inventors and made them quite a bit of money. EPI does not, however, charge inventors anything. Should EPI market a product, we risk our own capital and pay royalties on products sold.   Sponsor: Chris Ritchie July 1, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Topic: Product Design Speaker: Redza Shah We are a highly dedicated, skilled group of engineers and designers with a passion for product design and development. With years of experience in consumer and commercial product design, our staff understands what it takes to bring your idea to fruition. Our primary goal is to be a valuable member of your product development team and to develop a lasting, mutually-beneficial business relationship. We can fit whatever role is required of us, from project management, to turnkey design services, to vendor and manufacturing support. Let us work with you to turn your product concept into reality. Whatever your needs may be, we can make it happen!   Sponsor: Chris Ritchie August 5, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Topic: We are taking a buy! Speaker: N/A No meeting in September!     September 2, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Topic: SEO Optimization Speaker: Greg Bright Greg Bright started his entrepreneurial journey at an early age, under the leadership of his father. After selling the family owned Ace Hardware stores in Houston, Texas, he spent ten years as a retail consultant for Ace Hardware Corporation – consulting hundreds of Ace franchisees in all aspects of growing their businesses & opening new locations throughout Texas. He spent the next six years at AT&T consulting business owners on their internet advertising programs and website design. Applying his 33 years of experience with small businesses, website design, and Search Engine Optimization, Bright has achieved numerous #1 ranking web pages on Google and other search engines. Bright owns three small businesses in the Austin area and just published his book - “Get Top Ranking on Google & Other Search Engines” – Contributing Editor – Inventor – Patent Holder – B.A. Business Marketing. Mr. Bright is passionate about our free enterprise system, and is proud of the relationships he has built with small business owners over the years while helping them grow their businesses. “Bright walks in the business owner’s shoes – everything he talks about comes from a business owner’s perspective”.   Sponsor: Chris Ritchie October 7, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Topic: The 8 keys to creating and building lasting enterprises Speaker: Gary Hoover Gary Hoover began his entrepreneurial journey at an early age. His question about enterprises was, “What separates the losers from the winners?” He began subscribing to Fortune Magazine at the age of 12, and has acquired most of the issues back to 1930. As part of his education, he studied economics at the University of Chicago under Milton Friedman and two other Nobel Prize winners, served as a securities analyst for Citibank on Wall Street, worked as a buyer for Federated Department Stores, and headed up acquisitions and strategic planning for the May Department Stores Company. At the age of 30, after he finally took the plunge and created pioneering book superstore BOOKSTOP, which helped change the nature of book shopping in America. This company was sold to Barnes & Noble for $41.5 million cash when it was 7 years old, and became a cornerstone for their industry-dominating superstore chain. After he and his partners sold BOOKSTOP, Gary returned to his first love of understanding businesses, and began the company that became Hoover’s, the world’s largest Internet-based provider of information about enterprises. Hoovers.com covers over 40,000 companies around the world. In July of 1999, Hoover’s went public and in March of 2003, the company was purchased by Dun & Bradstreet for $117 million. Like BOOKSTOP, Hoover’s has changed the way we do things and today employs over 300 people. Gary also ventured into the travel business with TravelFest Superstores, which failed when airlines stopped paying commission to travel agencies, and the museum industry, a work in progress. He continues to keep over 100 ideas for new businesses on his list. In the autumn of 2009, Gary was appointed Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas in Austin. There he focuses on inciting and inspiring entrepreneurial thinking among students of all types, graduates and undergraduates, inside and outside of the business school. Gary lives in Austin, Texas, with his 50,000-book library. He has consulted, spoken to conferences, and worked to encourage entrepreneurial thinking on every continent and in every industry, for profit and not for profit. He has also supported the University of Chicago. In 2009 he launched www.hooversworld.com, a blog which includes reviews of books, ideas, and places from Gary’s iconoclastic angle.   Sponsor: Chris Ritchie November 4, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Topic: Buy Speaker: N/A No meeting in December. Stay tuned for the 2010 calendar.   Sponsor: Chris Ritchie December 2, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 pm